Radiohead - The Bends

The Bends is the second studio album by British progressive rock band Radiohead, originally released in March 1995 via Parlophone Records.

Pablo Honey in no way was adequate preparation for its epic, sprawling follow-up, The Bends. Building from the sweeping, three-guitar attack that punctuated the best moments of ‘Pablo Honey’, Radiohead created a grand and forceful sound that nevertheless resonates with anguish and despair -- it's cerebral anthemic rock. Thom Yorke's tortured lyrics give the album a melancholy undercurrent, as does the surging, textured music.

At a time when the main argument in the music industry was Blur vs. Oasis, Radiohead were following up their debut ‘Pablo Honey’ with a more progressive move towards the largely unpopular art rock movement. The Bends sounded different. Why? It had subtle creativity at its core. Producer John Leckie, who also produced Pink Floyd, gave the band an unprecedented freedom of expression and the band had more than enough ability to take the ball and run...

The first track “Planet Telex” feels genuinely refreshing even after all this time. Further on, “High And Dry” and “Fake Plastic Trees” are simply acoustic treats – stirring and poignant. “Bones” swiftly picks up the mood before Just blows most of the previous tracks out of the water, with the gain whacked up to ten and '90s guitar solos aplenty. “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”, although downbeat contains one of the most recognisable guitar riffs in musical history. Accompany that with haunting harmonies and a string section and it all amounts to a stunning finish to the album.

Popular opinion places ‘OK Computer’ as Radiohead's finest release, yet the The Bends was where they really put themselves firmly into the public consciousness. What makes The Bends so remarkable is that it marries such ambitious, and often challenging, instrumental soundscapes to songs that are at their cores hauntingly melodic and accessible. It makes the record compelling upon first listen, but it reveals new details with each listen, and soon it becomes apparent that with The Bends, Radiohead reinvented anthemic rock.

This album is a 2023 repress on black vinyl with a printed inner sleeve, pressed in Australia via XL Recordings.